Spring Fever and...

I think I'm in love.

This is Jackson, and I met him way back in September at the Squaw Valley Art Bark Fest. Some of you may remember that I went there for a fun dock diving event and then went on a spectacular hike up to a mountain lake. But one of the highlights of my weekend at Tahoe was meeting Jackson. Here's a picture of him and us at Squaw. I've never forgotten him heheh!

Isn't he handsome? I was lucky enough to have a playdate with him a couple of days ago on...yes - you guessed it! Yet another hike, where we found out how much we had in common, sigh....

Since I've blabbed so much about all the amazing lands and trails we have to hike on, I'll keep that to a minimum. We chose the Dawn Falls Trail in an area called Baltimore Canyon. Janis Joplin used to live practically on the old trailhead. Our goal was to see Dawn Falls, swim a lot in the overflowing creek and hike up far enough to check out the views and just chill.
A pretty waterfall, but not like Cataract or Carson Falls, because, well... I was with Jackson, of course and who pays attention to such things when you're hiking with a hunk!
We took a dip in this gorgeous little pool. Jackson quite possibly enjoys swimming more than I do! Well, he's a champion dock diver, so I guess he better love the water! What a stud!
"Hey Sam, what's your nose doing down there? Come and swim!"
Just LOVE watching him glide through the water!
Here's a collage of some of the activities we shared.
Some redwoods along the trail...
And look what an enormously high rock Jackson dared to jump up to!
Another collage of other pastimes we indulged in along the path and then a little movie of some swimming in that little blue pool.
You certainly are handsome - smack!
A dip halfway up the trail off the first fire road we crossed. That was delicious!
Ahhhh - the views! Only I'm not talking about what's behind me. Look at that big smile on Jackson's face! Now that's what I'M talking about! Thanks for sharing an unforgettable day with me, Jackson! Hope you come back for another outing soon!

Dam it all...

Sunday's plan was to set off in search of Hell Hole Falls, believed to be somewhere in the south-western vicinity of Uki. The rain from the previous day and early in the morning here was expected to fill the falls with plenty of water and scare the tourists away, and it seemed like the perfect time to do it. A flat tyre inside the first 10km dampened my enthusiasm a bit, but that was soon patched and I was on my way again.


I climbed over tomewin, attacking the early steep pinch, to take a more scenic route into the Tweed Valley. This is one of my favourite passes, particularly the stretch across the top before the steep descent into the valley below. The rain returned in the Tweed Valley, the temperature dropping to 11 degrees C, yet beyond Uki, where the ride really started, the skies started to clear, leaving only remnants of cloud hovering around Mt Warning. It was time to move on to the next phase.


There is another world to explore in the area around the locality of Doon Doon. Today I would take a slightly different route, to Clarrie Hall Dam, then Commissioners Creek Road, then Rockface road, hopefully finding the falls at the end. It didn't quite happen that way. First of all, the turn off from Commissioners Creek Road had a different name for the first 100 metres or so, meaning that I followed that road for longer than I should have, finally backtracking, finding my way to Rockface road, and commencing the climb on the rutted dirt road.

The road continued to climb, the turn off to the right that was supposed to lead straight to the falls was fenced off as "private property", almost certainly illegally. I'm sure there's a "tosspot of the week" post there, but I have another nomination in mind for that right now. As it was, I continued to climb, realising that I probably wouldn't reach the falls, but might find the summit of the climb anyway. The climb continued, levelling out in places, but generally continuing to gain height, while offering no views.

At the northern face of the mountain there was an intersection, and a heap of wildflowers. The "road" turning off to the East went straight into the valley below, but I decided to press on with the climb, wanting to finish it off. It crested at around 460 metres above sea level before starting a gentle descent. The gentle decent would have been nice to continue, but it wasn't to be. I soon found the end of the "road" and the start of a "trail", where the final destination became obvious.

The final descent to the wall at the northern end of Clarrie Hall Dam was too steep to even consider riding in the muddy conditions. Even walking was treacherous enough. At one point I used the brakes to lock up the wheels of the bike completely, and it still slid down at walking pace. Eventually it was negotiated, and I was left with a simple ride home. I grabbed more food back in Uki, before taking the "conventional" route via Murwillumbah, Urliup and Bilambil. A few squalls of rain along the way made the return interesting, but I was able to negotiate it comfortably enough.
The only option left for finding these falls is now via the old Mt Jerusalem, with a detour from another map that I have seen. This ride was rewarding in and of itself for other reasons, but I still intend to find those falls one way or another.

No Fear of Heights

Over at Garden Rant, Michele lamented the lack of tall herbaceous perennials like Dahlias and oriental lilies in today’s gardens, saying here
that no one wants to stake, so that all we see are “well-behaved mounds of veronica, geranium, sedum and coreopsis”.
Near the 6-foot tall back fence, wire cages support those white hibiscus flowers that were celebrated in my first blog entry. Their flowers can reach 11 inches in diameter. The hibiscus is seen here with blue-flowering Salvia guaranitica, upright without help, and the 5’6” Annie, who is known to lean on anything handy.
More tall perennials include self-standing Salvia ‘Black and Blue’, Salvia elegans (the fragrant Pineapple Sage), tall yellow, night-blooming daylily ‘Citrina’ and Texas Star Hibiscus. Staked flowers include oriental lilies and two dahlias, while Philo’s tomato patch bristles with tall wooden stakes, filling the area between the long mixed border on the north fence and the center back hummingbird bed.

The Noonday Pause for Prayer

"Trailing clouds of glory do we come from God." William Wordsworth
I'm reading Seven Sacred Pauses, Living Mindfully Through the Hours of the Day by Macrina Wiederkehr. The above quote was in the section The Hour of Illumination, meaning the noon hour.
During the lenten season, I've been praying the hours beginning at 6 AM and ending at 9 PM. If I'm up at midnight and 3 AM, and I sometimes am, I'll pray then, too. I set the alarm on my phone to go off at the appointed hours so I won't forget to pray.
This one thing has made a big difference in my life. When I come to Sunday worship, I have no problem like I usually do of paying attention. Usually I'm constantly having to bring myself back to the sermon. My mind wanders... I'll go over what I'm cooking for Sunday dinner, I think about the coming week, I'll think about our children that live far away, and on and on and on...
But since I've been praying the hours for these few weeks, the 'wandering mind' problem is much less of a problem. I'm more attuned to God's spirit. I can feel my heart is softer. I'm nicer to my family. I'm learning to be more present. This personal prayer is good practice for corporate prayer.
It's a practice that I've come to love and won't be giving up once Lent is over.

New Detour, Mana-Swamp Update

Dropped the car at Lyle's for a wheel sensor problem. Killed time at Xtreme Wheels until time to take a bike ride. Still had the hardtail at the shop, so just changed clothes and hopped on the bike.
Rode past the Wabash Trace Trailhead over toward Mosquito Creek. At the end of E. South Omaha Bridge Road I encountered some new construction. Appears they are creating a gravel detour - see photo.
Wind was from the NNE. "Flew" down the Lake Manawa Trail along the creek. Rode on over to the mountain bike trail area. Sections of the trails there are still under water.
However, West Sidewinder was high and dry. Took a spin on that trail. Encountered a couple branches over the trail that will need to be cleared. Trail surface of this trail is dry and dusty.

It will probably be at least a week until the river subsides. Then still longer until the trail dries out and can be ridden.
From the MtB trails, rode around Lake Manawa, up Indian Creek to S. 16th. (The bridge over Indian Creek is still closed for redecking - at least during the day.) At that time, received the call that my car was ready. Continued the ride into town to Lyle's.
A good 15 miles ride in 80 degree temps. Great way to end March.

The Historic Church Calendar

"...the church calendar, if examined briefly, is entirely structured around the Story of Jesus. That is, the church calendar is a gospeling event too.

The church calendar is all about the Story of Jesus, and I know of nothing - other than regular soaking in the Bible - that can "gospelize" our life more than the church calendar. It begins with Advent, then Christmas, the Epiphany, then After Epiphany, the Lent, then the Great Triduum (Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and the Paschal Vigil on Saturday evening), Easter, and then After Pentecost - with Ordinary Time shaping the calendar until Advent. Ordinary Time is the time to focus on the life and teachings of Jesus. Anyone who is half aware of the calendar in a church that is consciously devoted to focusing on these events in their theological and biblical contexts will be exposed every year to the whole gospel, to the whole Story of Israel coming to its saving completion in the Story of Jesus."

~ The King Jesus Gospel, Scot McKnight

At Mom's

Somehow we started talking about the dogs we'd had growing up.
The confusion started with my mother calling a Boston Terrier a Boston Bulldog.
Mom: Didn't we have a Boston Bulldog here?
Me: You mean Boston Terrier.
Mom (not sounding convinced): OK.
Me: We had PeeWee, but that was at the old house. He ran away. Supposedly.
Mom: But we had another one here besides Joe Lee.
Sis: Howie.
Me: Yeah, Howie. He supposedly ran away while we were on vacation, but I always suspected that Dad just had him removed while we were gone. (I'd brought Howie home without asking.)
(Mom looks confused. Not sure if Dad really didn't do that, or he just didn't tell her.)
Sis: And there was Pockets of course.
Mom: The shepherd.
Me: No, he was a poodle!
Mom: We had a poodle?
Sis: Yeah, he was mine, we got him from the B-----s, remember?
Me: And he got poisoned.
Sis: What?
Me: He got poisoned twice, that's why we had to give him away.
Sis: No, he bit the mailman, that's why he had to go.
Me: No! Poisoned. I remember clearly. The first time the vet thought he might not live. The second time wasn't so bad.
Sis: But they told me he'd bitten the mailman!
(Nobody else remembers the mailman story. Joe Lee did start nipping at repairmen's heels in her old age though.)
Me: He went to live with Dad's friend who had a place in the country.
Mom: No, we gave him to a lady at church. I remember her telling me when he died.
Me: I might be thinking about the chicks instead. I know we gave them to W---- out in the country.
Niece: You had chicks?!
Hubby: Maybe it was Little Buns.
Me: I think we gave him Little Buns too. (That was a rabbit.)
Niece: Can we get some chicks?!
Me: Later on we realized that it probably wasn't a person poisoning the neighborhood animals deliberately -- it was pesticide runoff from peoples' yards.
Mom: Yes, Mr Y----'s dog died. The shepherd.
Sis: No, it was one of those miniature collies. A Shetland Sheepdog.
(Mom looks confused.)
Brother-in-law: Are you sure you all grew up in the same house?
-----

Current crazy dog, a Great Pyrenees named Jasmine.
Friday Ark

Hot Chocolate

Hot Chocolate, originally uploaded by ParsecTraveller.

Thick hot chocolate I made back in January.
I am going to try this recipe again - it's essentially chocolate melted into milk. Really delicious!

Falling

This hickory has always been one of my favorite trees on our place.

I loved the way it (picturesquely, romantically) leaned over the path, and defended it from my husband, who has long wanted to cut it down.

But now there's a problem. How can you defend a tree that insists on behaving in this manner?
Hubby says it must go. We need to be able to drive under there, and neither pickups nor tractors can Limbo. Plus, if this decline continues, a fence will be destroyed.

I'll still be sad to see it go.
(Note the crazy husband in the tree.)

Fast-growing 5-lobed Mystery Plant

There's a new tree in my garden - at least it seems to be a tree- and I didn't plant it. Can someone please help me to identify this unknown plant? I've hunted online and in books but can't seem to figure it out... help!!

(Ed: If you read this post earlier please roll to the bottom - I added another photo with one leaf against a white background so you can see the 5-veined leaves, laddering up alternately on the flexible stem. Mulberry is one suggestion -papaya another. The space between leaf stems seems rather large for papaya, but shade & 12" of rain from Hermine have made other plants very gawky so I'm not ruling anything out quite yet.)



The plant appeared in a new flower bed that had been St Augustine lawn until last March. I noticed it in early summer but thought at first it was a seedling of some kind of hibiscus. Just in case it was something good, I decided to let it grow, try to identify it and move it when fall brought cooler weather. Once its leaves expanded fully it reminded me of a Silver Maple, but maple trees have opposite leaves, and this plant has alternate leaves. The oldest leaves are almost 12-inches long, deeply lobed with pointed tips.

This tree-shrub-woody perennial is now 5-feet tall and it's not only ruining the way the border looks but is shading its valuable neighbors. It has to go somewhere - the question is whether that somewhere should be another part of the yard, a large container or the compost heap.

Thanks for any advice - Annie in Austin

(Ed at 4 PM: Here's one more photo - thanks to everyone on the blog, Twitter and at GardenWeb Texas Forum for commenting! Read through the comments and see how the plant was identified as a Mulberry.)

Christmas Trees are Done!

Last couple of days before Christmas and there are still last minute shoppers, but things are winding down. Not sure if Gary is taking a nap or if we are contemplating a live nativity scene!



The Tent is empty!

The Office is broken down

Till have 117 trees left, over 1/2 are standing

Nite Nite Trees!

Christmas Trees are finally done! 1,000 trees and only 117 trees left. There will be some very happy goats!

The Goat guy made 2 trips and took over 50 trees, but we couldn't convince him to come back for more. Will have to wait for the guys to come get them and all the equipment tomorrow.

Till Later,

Meanwhile, we keep on Trek'n

Melissa & Gary